Airlines make nearly all their fares that are available to the general public available through all channels, from full fare down to their most heavily discounted fares. Any normal fare, made available months in advance in the normal way, is made available through all channels. Web fares, however, are different than normal fares. They typically constitute less than one tenth of 1% of the fares an airline offers, and are normally made available only a few days before flight time, and only on flights which have an unusually high number of empty seats. Web fares thus are seldom available, are unpredictable, and are offered at very low prices.

Most airlines today choose to make web fares available only on their own websites, because these fares are so low it would be uneconomic to offer them through the higher cost channels. (It is, in fact, very common throughout the retailing world for stores or catalogs to also have a website, and for that website to offer a few prices that are below the prices charged for the same goods in the store or the catalog.) However whether an airline chooses to make its web fares available through CRS''s to travel agents and the websites that rely on CRS''s is strictly an individual airline decision, and will remain so once Orbitz is up and running. Several third party websites (such as intellitrip.com) today take web fares from various airline websites (which they can do, because nothing is more public than a website) and display them in one place for their customers. And of course travel agents can book web fares off an airline''s website for a customer if they wish (although whether they get a commission on that booking is up to the individual airline).

First, there is our high-powered, yet friendly, search engine. It guarantees you more travel options and the lowest publicly available fares. And that includes Internet-only fares for nearly thirty airlines. This capability, along with our commitment to unparalleled customer care, is what sets us apart from all other travel-planning Web sites. Explore the Difference in depth. It was obvious that the current state of the online travel market really didn''t serve the true needs of today''s travelers. The airlines shared a vision of the perfect travel site, one focused on the consumer. A site that would provide comprehensive and unbiased travel information as well as one that would make planning and buying travel on the Internet easy and hassle-free; instead of the usual scavenger hunt. Travelers will have all the information; so they can make informed decisions.

©2003 www.inns-special-rates.com All rights reserved.